Newly Goat-Free, a Galapagos Island Awaits a Finch Renaissance

When Charles Darwin first came upon the Galapagos Islands, he wasn't as impressed with the diversity of bird life he found there as is widely believed. It was later, at home, that his observations of the beaks of finches led him toward his revolutionary theory of evolution. Still, the finches of the Galapagos have an unparalleled place in the minds of conservationists.

Now, on the island of Santiago, the fourth largest in the Galapagos Archipelago, a bird resurgence is poised to begin. And it's all because of goats.

More accurately, it was the decline in local finches resulted from the feral goats released on the island in the 1920s. In their first 70 years, they chewed through every bit of brush on the 226-square-mile island (that's about the size of Manhattan and Galveston islands combined). In their wake: grass ... and fewer birds.

The story of the Galapagos is that similar species developed unique adaptations to living on different islands, each with different habitats. For instance, the woodpecker finch, on Santiago Island, learned to use a twig, stick, or cactus spine as a tool to dislodge grubs and insects from trees. (Woodpecker finch photo by Sonia Kleindorfer, courtesy of American Bird Conservancy.)

The island was declared goat-free in February, after the largest "invasive mammal eradication" effort ever completed, according to the American Bird Conservancy. Now, the birds are free to return, following the island's shrubs and trees.

You Too Can Help the Birds. Here's How:

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Comments

[laylabaker3]

There are two new books coming out, one in August one in September, the first Galapagos, The Untamed Isles by Pete Oxford & Renee Bish. Pete's photographs are simply stunning and depict the wildlife in the Galapagos and it's paired with a foreword from Graham Watkins who is a former director of the Charles Darwin Foundation. Each picture will leave you breathless from iguanas swimming in deep blue waters, to a sea lion mother with her baby and a brilliantly-colored vermilion flycatcher on Spanish moss. Besides snapshots of animals in this beautifully made book, it includes pictures of the volcanic eruption of Fernandina in the winter of 1995.

Galapagos Both Sides of the Coin by Graham Watkins and Pete Oxford with a foreword by His Royal Highness, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, is out in september. This book really gives the reader an insight into the complicated dilemmas were having with conserving the ecosystem in the Galapagos Islands. The year of 2009 is the year of Charle Darwin. From the 150th anniversary of the publication of his study that changed the world, to the 200th birthday of Darwin and the 50th anniversary of the creation of the Galapagos National Park and also the 50th anniversary of the making of the Charles Darwin Foundation. It's also a two-sided coffee book, so that when you begin reading, its the gorgeous pictures of the islands beauty and the second section is a description of the important battle to maintain this environment.

[wadenelson1]

Imagine if America could get rid of all of its goats --- the Conservatives & Republicans.

They pretty well chewed through everyone's IRA's and 401K's, leaving us eating grass as well.